1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless signal controlled toy playset.
2. Background Information
There have been developed a number of wireless signal controlled toy playsets. Wireless toy playsets typically include a wireless transmitter that can be operated by an end user to control the movement of a motorized toy vehicle. For example, there had been developed wireless signal controlled hand size playsets marketed by Fisher-Price under the trademarks RC RACEWAY and RC OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE that contained motorized vehicle that moved about a track. The vehicles were controlled by buttons of a wireless transmitter. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,887 issued to Rudell et al., discloses a small size train set that is controlled by a wireless transmitter. The transmitter includes a button to control the speed of the train and a second button to activate an auxiliary feature such as a barrel loading feature of the train set.
The transmitters for the small size wireless toys are physically separate from the vehicles or tracks. Consequently, a child may misplace, lose, or otherwise permanently separate the transmitter from the vehicle, rendering the playset inoperative.
Tyco Preschool, which became a part of Fisher Price, marketed a line of wireless controlled toys under the SESAME STREET brand. One of the Tyco toys was a ride-on train marketed under the trademark FP RADIO CONTROL RIDE-ON TRAIN. The RIDE-ON TRAIN was large enough for a young child to ride.
The RIDE-ON TRAIN included a wireless transmitter that could be held and operated by a parent while the child held onto the train. When the child attained a certain level of motor skills the transmitter could be attached directly to the train so that the child could control the motion of the toy train. In this configuration the child would have to ride the train to operate the transmitter. This would be an impossibility for a small size playset such as the RC RACEWAY and RC OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE products. It would be desirable to have a toy playset that would minimize the possibility of losing the transmitter while allowing the end user to operate the transmitter without sitting on the vehicle. It would also be desirable to allow an end user to operate a wireless transmitter located adjacent to the track.